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Exceeding Expectations: Give More Value, Do More Than Expected
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A Foundation for Success
I was raised by entrepreneurial parents. The environment of my childhood was the equivalent of at least one Harvard MBA – or that is the way it seems to me today. My life was about living in circumstances that were focused on identifying opportunity and creating strategies that could be executed to maximize the opportunities. Along the way I was taught the most important business principle of my life: “Give value, do more than is expected!” My father taught me that principle when I was very young and it is the foundation of whatever success I have enjoyed. In fact, my entire business is based on helping my clients appropriate and execute their vision based on that idea.
Why the Leaders Can’t Always Execute
Over the years I have had the honor and pleasure of coaching some of the world’s finest CEOs. The businesses they lead sport logos familiar to most of America and the world. The common thread between them is the need to execute their vision in the marketplace. However, understanding the need to execute vision is only the first step in being able to do it. I‘ve seen many leaders and organizations flounder as they try to fulfill their vision and their dreams because they lacked a methodology capable of sustaining the effort.
A New Leadership Concept
The reality of rapidly changing markets introduces a concept I have begun to teach and facilitate for all my clients. I call it Strategic Acceleration Through Communication Mastery. It is a methodology that combines awareness, operational practices, processes, and powerful informational resources to enable leaders and organizations to execute results within time frames that exceed traditional expectations. I developed this methodology from the philosophy I learned from my father: “Give value, do more than is expected!” For businesses to become all they can be, this principle should drive the strategic thought processes of leadership. Understanding the strategic importance of value is where success and accomplishment begin.
Value: The Engine of Growth
The great businesses of America started with a small vision of just a few people and grew over the years into large corporate entities. The seed that sparked these businesses was the recognition of a need that could be met by providing a product or service. The value of the product or service and how well it met the needs of the target customers became the basis for their future growth and success. Those with good value propositions grew. Therefore, providing value becomes the engine of growth in the purest sense.
If a business fails to grow and sustain profitability it will not survive. For that reason, achieving growth and profitability is the logical prime objective for every business. For a business to consistently grow it must be competitive in every endeavor and there must be a value proposition for every segment of the business. Large companies have many pieces that have to be put together to sustain their success. Good people must be recruited, trained, and developed. Product and service offerings must meet the critical needs of customers. Challenges must be quickly overcome by implementing solutions that produce results. Internal and external communication must be efficient and effective.
Technology has created the most competitive markets in human history and to grow, win, and survive in this fast-paced global economy every business leader needs to cultivate a value-based mindset. It is a mindset that recognizes value as the prime building block for strategy development and problem solving. I believe the bottom line of competition is value and the ability of an organization to think in terms of value is the foundation to winning, achieving new growth, and sustaining profitability.
How to Win the Results Contest
Let’s face it. Leadership is a results contest. If leaders don’t deliver results and meet or exceed expectations they are invited to step down and are replaced by others. In the case of the self-employed, if they don’t deliver results they go out of business. The greatest principle any leader can learn is the relationship of value to results. And, as Warren Buffet stated so well: “Price is what you pay; value is what you get”.
We’ve all heard the term Buyer’s Remorse. I think that is a polite term for the way people feel when they have purchased something and the item or the experience did not meet their expectations. In many instances this disappointment goes beyond remorse and becomes anger. All of us have found ourselves in this disappointing condition and it’s all about value. Did we get what we wanted and did the product or service meet or exceed our expectations? The negatives of disappointment are significant but there is a huge positive impact on results when products or services meet or exceed expectations.
The Power of Exceeding Expectations
Think about this. When a product or service meets the expectation of a customer they will be satisfied with their purchase and they will not be remorseful about the purchase. However, when the product or service merely meets an expectation it will not always translate into growth for the business. Merely meeting an expectation doesn’t get people excited. They are just satisfied with what they got for their money. They won’t necessarily become a raving fan and tell others about the product or service. Worse, they remain open to the sales and marketing efforts of competitors. People who are only satisfied are the people who can be influenced and sold to by your competitors. These are the people who can shift market share percentages when they move their allegiance to products or services that promise to exceed their expectations of value.
When we buy something that exceeds our expectations we are blown away with our good fortune. We can’t believe that we “got all of this” for what we paid. What we got could be a combination of product quality, customer support, the effect the product had on our lives, or any other thing that makes us happy about the money we spent. When our expectations are exceeded we become walking advertisements and testimonials for the product or service. Every time we run across a friend with a similar need we tell them about what we got for what we paid. We are raving fans at that point and a raving fan can’t be tempted and lured away by competitors. This is the kind of customer that leads to growth and great results for any business.
Creating value is about getting better results. I believe that value creation and exceeding expectations is the most strategic of concepts and it touches every organizational objective. For example, when a company competes for employees in the marketplace it is value that makes the decision for the prospective employee. What are they going to get if they accept the job? The “getting” goes beyond salary and benefits. Will they be valued? Will they be treated well? Will they be able to impact the success of the business? When employees consider making job changes it is always value that drives and motivates their decision. When the value (what they get or experience) is less than their investment (time, emotional energy, effort, personal sacrifice) they become candidates for head hunters.
The Power of Value
Value is a powerful factor in so many ways many of which are not obvious. I believe the most significant factor involves confidence! Value gives people a sense of confidence. I’m talking about confidence within a business. When your team understands the value proposition of their product or service and they factually know that the value proposition is going to exceed the expectations of the customer - confidence is the result. Strategically, confidence is the element every team needs to have to create a winning dynamic. Confidence inspires creativity, participation, and most importantly it supports action and execution.
Could any sports team ever win if they did not have the confidence they could defeat their opponent? Not likely. So much of human success involves believing that success is possible and it is that belief that is the first step in creating success. I believe that value is the most foundational piece of the human ability to believe that success is possible. If we do not believe in the value of what we are doing we will never have the strength to persevere, work hard, and drive through the inevitable difficulties and roadblocks every business will encounter. That is certainly true on an individual basis and I believe it is true for organizations as a whole.
Communication: The Key to Creating Value at Every Level
Critical strategic principles need to be continually presented internally and externally. There are three communication segments in every business and each has its own responsibility to communicate a specific message. The three communication segments are:
1. The Leadership Segment: Leaders need to continually communicate vision so that there is clarity and focus on the things that really matter. Leaders must stress the strengths of the business, the opportunity that exists and provide clear strategies that will enable execution of the vision in the marketplace. All of these points contribute to value and unless they are communicated, value will not be understood as well as it should be.
2. The Business Development Segment: Those involved in developing and maintaining business for the enterprise are the public expression of the value proposition. These people represent the “value voice” of the business and drive many of the images of influence that impact their customers and the market in general. Communication Standards for this group are centered in brand congruence, maximizing synergy between the business and marketplace, communicating specific value propositions and leveraging the competitive advantage of the business.
3. The Team Segment: The team includes rank and file employees and their communication focus is more tactical in nature but is equally important in creating value both internally and externally. The day-to-day actions of the team are where value is delivered and expectations are exceeded. Actions of the team produce the actual results of the business and determine effectiveness. How well the team communicates with respect to meetings, email, and routine discussion is the key to its success. A team that communicates well increases its value and the value of the enterprise.
A Final Thought
Strong, lasting businesses are based on vision, yet vision is irrelevant if it cannot be executed in the market place!
Competitive advantage is attained when organizations begin to understand the relationship of value, priorities, and doing things that help people get better results. When an organization begins to collectively understand that adding value is about helping people get better results, clarity of purpose, and execution of vision improves dramatically. Value goes beyond price and monetary considerations. If a product, concept, service, or project does not help others improve the results they truly need, then there has been no added value.
I was raised by entrepreneurial parents. The environment of my childhood was the equivalent of at least one Harvard MBA – or that is the way it seems to me today. My life was about living in circumstances that were focused on identifying opportunity and creating strategies that could be executed to maximize the opportunities. Along the way I was taught the most important business principle of my life: “Give value, do more than is expected!” My father taught me that principle when I was very young and it is the foundation of whatever success I have enjoyed. In fact, my entire business is based on helping my clients appropriate and execute their vision based on that idea.
Why the Leaders Can’t Always Execute
Over the years I have had the honor and pleasure of coaching some of the world’s finest CEOs. The businesses they lead sport logos familiar to most of America and the world. The common thread between them is the need to execute their vision in the marketplace. However, understanding the need to execute vision is only the first step in being able to do it. I‘ve seen many leaders and organizations flounder as they try to fulfill their vision and their dreams because they lacked a methodology capable of sustaining the effort.
A New Leadership Concept
The reality of rapidly changing markets introduces a concept I have begun to teach and facilitate for all my clients. I call it Strategic Acceleration Through Communication Mastery. It is a methodology that combines awareness, operational practices, processes, and powerful informational resources to enable leaders and organizations to execute results within time frames that exceed traditional expectations. I developed this methodology from the philosophy I learned from my father: “Give value, do more than is expected!” For businesses to become all they can be, this principle should drive the strategic thought processes of leadership. Understanding the strategic importance of value is where success and accomplishment begin.
Value: The Engine of Growth
The great businesses of America started with a small vision of just a few people and grew over the years into large corporate entities. The seed that sparked these businesses was the recognition of a need that could be met by providing a product or service. The value of the product or service and how well it met the needs of the target customers became the basis for their future growth and success. Those with good value propositions grew. Therefore, providing value becomes the engine of growth in the purest sense.
If a business fails to grow and sustain profitability it will not survive. For that reason, achieving growth and profitability is the logical prime objective for every business. For a business to consistently grow it must be competitive in every endeavor and there must be a value proposition for every segment of the business. Large companies have many pieces that have to be put together to sustain their success. Good people must be recruited, trained, and developed. Product and service offerings must meet the critical needs of customers. Challenges must be quickly overcome by implementing solutions that produce results. Internal and external communication must be efficient and effective.
Technology has created the most competitive markets in human history and to grow, win, and survive in this fast-paced global economy every business leader needs to cultivate a value-based mindset. It is a mindset that recognizes value as the prime building block for strategy development and problem solving. I believe the bottom line of competition is value and the ability of an organization to think in terms of value is the foundation to winning, achieving new growth, and sustaining profitability.
How to Win the Results Contest
Let’s face it. Leadership is a results contest. If leaders don’t deliver results and meet or exceed expectations they are invited to step down and are replaced by others. In the case of the self-employed, if they don’t deliver results they go out of business. The greatest principle any leader can learn is the relationship of value to results. And, as Warren Buffet stated so well: “Price is what you pay; value is what you get”.
We’ve all heard the term Buyer’s Remorse. I think that is a polite term for the way people feel when they have purchased something and the item or the experience did not meet their expectations. In many instances this disappointment goes beyond remorse and becomes anger. All of us have found ourselves in this disappointing condition and it’s all about value. Did we get what we wanted and did the product or service meet or exceed our expectations? The negatives of disappointment are significant but there is a huge positive impact on results when products or services meet or exceed expectations.
The Power of Exceeding Expectations
Think about this. When a product or service meets the expectation of a customer they will be satisfied with their purchase and they will not be remorseful about the purchase. However, when the product or service merely meets an expectation it will not always translate into growth for the business. Merely meeting an expectation doesn’t get people excited. They are just satisfied with what they got for their money. They won’t necessarily become a raving fan and tell others about the product or service. Worse, they remain open to the sales and marketing efforts of competitors. People who are only satisfied are the people who can be influenced and sold to by your competitors. These are the people who can shift market share percentages when they move their allegiance to products or services that promise to exceed their expectations of value.
When we buy something that exceeds our expectations we are blown away with our good fortune. We can’t believe that we “got all of this” for what we paid. What we got could be a combination of product quality, customer support, the effect the product had on our lives, or any other thing that makes us happy about the money we spent. When our expectations are exceeded we become walking advertisements and testimonials for the product or service. Every time we run across a friend with a similar need we tell them about what we got for what we paid. We are raving fans at that point and a raving fan can’t be tempted and lured away by competitors. This is the kind of customer that leads to growth and great results for any business.
Creating value is about getting better results. I believe that value creation and exceeding expectations is the most strategic of concepts and it touches every organizational objective. For example, when a company competes for employees in the marketplace it is value that makes the decision for the prospective employee. What are they going to get if they accept the job? The “getting” goes beyond salary and benefits. Will they be valued? Will they be treated well? Will they be able to impact the success of the business? When employees consider making job changes it is always value that drives and motivates their decision. When the value (what they get or experience) is less than their investment (time, emotional energy, effort, personal sacrifice) they become candidates for head hunters.
The Power of Value
Value is a powerful factor in so many ways many of which are not obvious. I believe the most significant factor involves confidence! Value gives people a sense of confidence. I’m talking about confidence within a business. When your team understands the value proposition of their product or service and they factually know that the value proposition is going to exceed the expectations of the customer - confidence is the result. Strategically, confidence is the element every team needs to have to create a winning dynamic. Confidence inspires creativity, participation, and most importantly it supports action and execution.
Could any sports team ever win if they did not have the confidence they could defeat their opponent? Not likely. So much of human success involves believing that success is possible and it is that belief that is the first step in creating success. I believe that value is the most foundational piece of the human ability to believe that success is possible. If we do not believe in the value of what we are doing we will never have the strength to persevere, work hard, and drive through the inevitable difficulties and roadblocks every business will encounter. That is certainly true on an individual basis and I believe it is true for organizations as a whole.
Communication: The Key to Creating Value at Every Level
Critical strategic principles need to be continually presented internally and externally. There are three communication segments in every business and each has its own responsibility to communicate a specific message. The three communication segments are:
1. The Leadership Segment: Leaders need to continually communicate vision so that there is clarity and focus on the things that really matter. Leaders must stress the strengths of the business, the opportunity that exists and provide clear strategies that will enable execution of the vision in the marketplace. All of these points contribute to value and unless they are communicated, value will not be understood as well as it should be.
2. The Business Development Segment: Those involved in developing and maintaining business for the enterprise are the public expression of the value proposition. These people represent the “value voice” of the business and drive many of the images of influence that impact their customers and the market in general. Communication Standards for this group are centered in brand congruence, maximizing synergy between the business and marketplace, communicating specific value propositions and leveraging the competitive advantage of the business.
3. The Team Segment: The team includes rank and file employees and their communication focus is more tactical in nature but is equally important in creating value both internally and externally. The day-to-day actions of the team are where value is delivered and expectations are exceeded. Actions of the team produce the actual results of the business and determine effectiveness. How well the team communicates with respect to meetings, email, and routine discussion is the key to its success. A team that communicates well increases its value and the value of the enterprise.
A Final Thought
Strong, lasting businesses are based on vision, yet vision is irrelevant if it cannot be executed in the market place!
Competitive advantage is attained when organizations begin to understand the relationship of value, priorities, and doing things that help people get better results. When an organization begins to collectively understand that adding value is about helping people get better results, clarity of purpose, and execution of vision improves dramatically. Value goes beyond price and monetary considerations. If a product, concept, service, or project does not help others improve the results they truly need, then there has been no added value.
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